Technology entrepreneur Sir Ian Taylor says he’s stepping away from several high-profile organisations so he can continue to offer opinions which may upset the Government of the day.
Taylor, from Ngāti Kahungunu, was on the board of the I Am Hope Trust, which has been promised $6 million a year from the new Government to fund its work in youth mental health, and Product Accelerator, a government-funded networking organisation which helps industries build up their technological capabilities.
Product Accelerator has worked with the National Party to discuss industry-led visions for New Zealand’s future economic growth.
Taylor says government funding can limit the ability of people in such organisations to speak out, as was evident in the term of the last Government.
“I think I’d have a responsibility because people like the Herald and Stuff and yourself [Radio Waatea] have given me a platform. And I just felt that that’s my responsibility to use it. People don’t have to agree with me, but we have to have the discussions,” he told Waatea.News.Com.
